The Priory

The Priory is a house built on the site of, and incorporating elements of, the Benedictine Priory of St. Faith. The fabric dates back to the 12th century, with significant remodelling around 1600 and subsequent alterations. The roof was rebuilt after a fire in 1924. It is constructed of flint and brick, with limestone dressings, and has plain-tiled and pantiled roofs. The building has a roughly 'L' shaped plan. A colourwashed brick range to the northwest is later and not of particular interest. Windows are of an irregular pattern, predominantly casement windows with glazing bars, mullions, and transoms, with leaded glazing. Some windows are set in chamfered stone reveals.

The south facade features two upper two-light windows from the 15th century with trefoiled heads, now partially obscured by massive, staged buttresses of brick, flint, and limestone. There are also two large ground floor openings: one with a segmental head and 20th-century glazed doors, and one with a sash window and fanlight with glazing bars. A doorway leads to a cross-passage, featuring a four-centred arch in a square-headed, chamfered reveal. A corresponding doorway is on the north wall, with a good 16th-century door and frame set in a roll-moulded reveal, accompanied by a 15th-century trefoil-headed window. Three large, staged buttresses stand on the north side, with the easternmost being entirely brick. At the northeast corner, there is an entrance to a chapel with a chamfered stone reveal partly rebuilt in brickwork in the 20th century, alongside a blocked two-light window. A lean-to at the west gable contains a 12th-century doorway on the south wall. The building has an axial chimney and internal stacks at the east and west gables.

The interior contains very fine mid-13th century wall paintings, which were uncovered in the mid-20th century when a floor dating from the 16th or 17th century was removed. On the east wall of the refectory chamber is a large Crucifixion scene (the upper section is missing) and a pictorial history depicting the founding of the Priory by Robert of Caen and his wife Sybilla. A fine crowned female figure, whose identity is uncertain – possibly St. Faith or St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland – is situated on the north side of the Crucifixion scene. Fragments of earlier work survive throughout the building, some reputedly from the southwest corner, but now masked by later wall casing. Original 16th-century fireplace jambs are also present. Remains of the cloister walls extend to the south and are designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (County No. 285).